Principal Applied Scientist, Agentic Ai

Zillow Group

Remote, US
Base: $191,300.00 - $305,700.00 annually (ca, ct, ...
Fully remote
Reinforcement learning post-training expertise
Supervised fine-tuning and dpo techniques
Reward model development and optimization
This role leads the technical direction for reinforcement learning post-training to align AI models with customer value, safety, and business objectives

Job Summary

  • This role leads the technical direction for reinforcement learning post-training to align AI models with customer value, safety, and business objectives.
  • The team combines modern foundation models with applied ML to power intelligent experiences across Zillow's real estate products in a remote-first environment.
  • Candidates must possess a PhD or equivalent experience in fields like Computer Science or Statistics with deep expertise in RL and large language models.

Matching Summary

This role leads the technical direction for reinforcement learning post-training to align AI models with customer value, safety, and business objectives.

Salary

Base: $191,300.00 - $305,700.00 annually (CA, CT, MD, MA, NJ, NY, WA, DC); Base: $181,800.00 - $290,400.00 annually (CO, HI, IL, MN, NV, OH, RI, VT); Equity awards eligible based on experience, performance, and location.

Skills & Requirements

Must-have

  • Reinforcement Learning post-training expertise
  • Supervised fine-tuning and DPO techniques
  • Reward model development and optimization
  • LLM evaluation and safety guardrails
  • Cross-functional collaboration in high-stakes domains

Nice-to-have

  • Experience with multi-objective optimization
  • Thought leadership through publications or talks
  • Background in complex real-world decision making
  • Mentorship of applied scientists and engineers

Key Requirements

  • PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Statistics, or related field
  • Strong expertise in RLHF, RLAIF, DPO, and preference modeling
  • Experience working in regulated or high-stakes verticals like finance or healthcare

Work Rights

Not specified

Tailored Resume

Cover Letter